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Across the globe, more powers are being devolved to local and regional levels of government. This book provides an innovative analysis of such decentralisation in transition states in the Balkans. Using new and rich data, it shows how political elites use decentralisation strategically to ensure their access to state resources.

The countries in the Western Balkans have been severely affected by the wars and conflicts that led to the breakup of former Yugoslavia, by political instability and the effort of creating new states, weak economies and high levels of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, and inequality. As revealed by recent surveys, such as EBRD¿s Life in Transition Survey and Eurofound¿s European Quality of Life Survey, life satisfaction in the region is far below that elsewhere in Europe. In recent years they had achieved a strong impetus of economic growth with falling rates of unemployment and increasing optimism for the future. However, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has brought about a sudden reversal of these trends and a renewed deterioration in the economic outlook, and an increase in social hardships that heralds a repeat of past failures in economic inclusion policies. This book identifies the key challenges in the areas of economic inclusion, focusing on thethemes of labour markets, vocational education and skills, female entrepreneurship and the integration of migrants. It considers the opportunities for solutions to ¿build back better¿ once the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis begins, and offers proposals for more acceptable, equitable and effective economic inclusion policies.

Among the main stumbling blocks of European Union-Western Balkan integration are the differences in perceptions on both sides. Today, the gap between what the Western Balkan politicians and citizens think about the European Union and what the politicians and citizens in the EU member states think about the Western Balkans is probably wider than ever. This volume offers fresh insights about these misperceptions and how to possibly bridge the gap. It examines perceptions about the region¿s ¿European perspectives¿ both on the side of the six Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia ¿ and the key European Union member states (Italy, Germany, Croatia), international donors, USA. An analysis of the diverse views regarding the prospects of EU ¿ Western Balkan integration is today highly relevant, in view of the current uncertainties regarding European Union¿s enlargement policy, particularly after the attack of Russia on Ukraine and candidate status granted to Ukraine and Moldova.

This book argues that the backsliding or stagnation of democracy should be interpreted in a wider perspective on irregular movements towards and away from contemporary liberal democracy. This a perspective couched by a metaphor, namely the 'pendulum of democracy', which the author has constructed to suggest that democratic regimes may swing between a democratic end (fully developed liberal democracy) and a semi-authoritarian end (competitive authoritarianism). The pendulum does not have a predictable frequency. Democratization may lead to irregular movements back and forth. It is easier to analyze such movements of the pendulum when democracy is not consolidated yet (for instance, in the three post-Yugoslav political regimes mentioned above), as democratic institutions and processes are not yet stable. For this reason, this book analyses the swing of unconsolidated democracy away from the democratic end in the cases of today¿s Serbia and Montenegro and the swing back towards liberal democracy in the case of North Macedonia which - until 2017 - had been developing into a competitive authoritarian regime, but then embarked on the road to democratic recovery.

This edited volume explores the different ways in which members of the European Union have interacted with Kosovo since it declared independence in 2008.

This volume uses new empirical evidence and analytical ideas to study phenomena of fragmentation and exclusion threatening stability and cohesion in Greek society in the aftermath of the crisis.

Therefore, this book undertakes the first comprehensive review of Albania's military and judicial reform - from 1992 to 2009 - to ascertain why military reform produced substantial institutionalisation and judicial reform did not.

This book examines Croatia's economic and political transformation over the last 30 years. The book offers a unique blend of Croatia's political economy framework and public policy analysis.

This volume casts a fresh look on how the political spaces of the Western Balkan states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania) are shaped, governed and transformed during the EU accession process.

The author maps regional features of rising authoritarianism that mirror larger global trends and, in doing so, outlines the core mechanisms of authoritarian rule in the Balkans, with a particular focus on Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia.

This book is the first to provide a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the foreign policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a post-conflict country with an active agency in international affairs. Bridging academic and policy debates, the book summarizes and further examines the first twenty-five years of BiH's foreign policy following the country's independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. Topics covered include conflict and post-conflict periods, Euro-Atlantic integration, political affairs on both local and regional levels, integration with a variety of international organizations and actors, neighboring states, bilateral relations with relevant other states including the United States, Russia, selected EU countries, and Turkey, as well as BiH's diaspora. The book highlights that despite their apparent weakness, post-conflict states have agency to carry out foreign policy goals and engage with the international sphere, including in geopolitics, and thus provides a novel insight into weak states and their role in international politics.

This volume casts a fresh look on how the political spaces of the Western Balkan states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania) are shaped, governed and transformed during the EU accession process.

This book examines Croatia's economic and political transformation over the last 30 years. The book offers a unique blend of Croatia's political economy framework and public policy analysis.

Therefore, this book undertakes the first comprehensive review of Albania's military and judicial reform - from 1992 to 2009 - to ascertain why military reform produced substantial institutionalisation and judicial reform did not.

This volume uses new empirical evidence and analytical ideas to study phenomena of fragmentation and exclusion threatening stability and cohesion in Greek society in the aftermath of the crisis.

This study of the Greek-Turkish Aegean dispute book shows that the dispute is resolvable and that the crux of the problem is not the incompatibility of interests but the mutual fears and suspicions, which are deeply rooted in historical memories, real or imagined.

The book analyses the changing roles of international agencies, governmental bodies, non-governmental organisations, and local communities around major road-building environmental impact assessment processes in order to examine whether the influence of the European Union has transformed environmental governance in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Serbia.

This edited volume explores the different ways in which members of the European Union have interacted with Kosovo since it declared independence in 2008.

The post-Yugoslav states have developed very differently since Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s. This book analyzes the foreign policies of the post-Yugoslav states, thereby focusing on the main goals, actors, decision-making processes and influences on the foreign policies of these countries.

This volume investigates the policies and politics of extreme austerity, setting the crisis in Greece in its global context. Featuring multidisciplinary contributions and an exclusive interview with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, this is the first comprehensive account of the economic crisis at the heart of Europe.

Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle is the first systematic study of nationalism in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey from a comparative perspective. Bringing scholars from Greece, Turkey and both sides of Cyprus (and beyond) together, the book provides a critical account of nation-building processes and nationalist politics in all three countries.

This book explores the ambiguous role played by civil society in the processes of state-building, democratization and post-conflict reconstruction in the Western Balkans challenging the assumption that civil society is always a force for good by analysing civil society actors and their effects in post-communist and post-conflict transition.

Nationalism in the Troubled Triangle is the first systematic study of nationalism in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey from a comparative perspective. Bringing scholars from Greece, Turkey and both sides of Cyprus (and beyond) together, the book provides a critical account of nation-building processes and nationalist politics in all three countries.

The post-Yugoslav states have developed very differently since Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s. This book analyzes the foreign policies of the post-Yugoslav states, thereby focusing on the main goals, actors, decision-making processes and influences on the foreign policies of these countries.

This book explores the ambiguous role played by civil society in the processes of state-building, democratization and post-conflict reconstruction in the Western Balkans challenging the assumption that civil society is always a force for good by analysing civil society actors and their effects in post-communist and post-conflict transition.

Over the last two decades the countries of South East Europe have engaged in far-reaching reforms of their health systems. However, overviews of reform efforts in this part of Europe have been sorely lacking. This book addresses this shortage through the analysis of key aspects of health reforms and health workforce mobility in South East Europe.

Do NGOs strengthen Turkey's efforts at Europeanization and democratization or do they use EU funding to serve other interests?This book offers a critical investigation of the relationship between Turkish NGOs and the European Union (EU) and a nuanced assessment of the opportunities and limitations to fashioning social change by funding NGOs.

This volume investigates the policies and politics of extreme austerity, setting the crisis in Greece in its global context. Featuring multidisciplinary contributions and an exclusive interview with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, this is the first comprehensive account of the economic crisis at the heart of Europe.

Over the last two decades the countries of South East Europe have engaged in far-reaching reforms of their health systems. However, overviews of reform efforts in this part of Europe have been sorely lacking. This book addresses this shortage through the analysis of key aspects of health reforms and health workforce mobility in South East Europe.

A new study of the international and local politics surrounding the Muslim minority of Western Thrace (Greece) in the 1940s, based on previously unseen archival material. Addresses the minority's complex identity, its relations with other communities in the area, the international diplomacy of WWII and strategic considerations of the Cold War.